My laptop arrived, faulty, the middle of last week.  I've today had an email telling me that you will call me within 14 days.  14 days!  That's absolutely pathetic customer service.  I paid good money for a laptop to use, now, in my business.  And the idea that you should recommend that customers dismantle the keyboard and replace it themselves is laughable.  Even if it's easy, why on earth should I have to do that with a brand new computer?  Anyone affected should just be shipped a new working laptop.

Greg, totally agree with your comments. We order upwards of £40K of equipment from Dell every year.

If this unit had been bought from a shop it would be returned as "unfit for use" under the Sale of Goods Act 1994. Dell are in fact breaching the Sale of Goods Act by not offering refunds. See http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

Q1. What is an inherent fault?

A fault present at the time of purchase. Examples are:
• an error in design so that a product is manufactured incorrectly
• an error in manufacturing where a faulty component was inserted.
The "fault" may not become apparent immediately but it was there at the time of sale and so the product was not of satisfactory standard.

I have contacted them on numerous occasions and they are just not getting back to me. I am disgusted with the level of customer service.

David, Thank you for your comment. There seems to be a misunderstanding here. We are offering our customers replacement keyboards and are open to discussing refunds where appropriate. I am sorry that you have not heard back from Dell yet, I will escalate your case internally. 

Greg, I appreciate your feedback. We will call you to discuss your options. We are offering an engineer to come to site at no cost. We realise this is an inconvenience to those customers who have been affected and we are acting quickly to reach out to customers. First by email, then by phone to discuss options.

Kind regards,

KerryatDell

I e-mailed the suggested e-mail address with all appropriate details on Monday morning and still not heard anything, nor any recognition of receipt. Can this be escalated/ followed up also please?

Dear Kerry,

It appears that you are testing the patience of many customers, I have sent emails to that particular email address since last week and only received a reply today. I specifically stated in many of my emails to you that I wanted a keyboard kit as I didn't have time take more days off work to wait for your engineers.

Instead I received a "generic" reply which addressed none of my concerns, an email that basically stated what was written in this blog and that I have to wait another 14 days just to received a telephone call!

I don't understand why this issue is not being dealt with as a matter of high priority. We are customers that have chosen to give you (another) oppurtunity to correct the problem instead of requesting an immediate refund and taking our business elsewhere.

Please explain why it is such a hassle to sort out this mess? I just fail to see how difficult it can be by just popping a keyboard in the post for me. It is very annoying that I have to urge you and waste my own time to correct a problem that was ENTIRELY your fault.

Regards,

Ricky

I too have a Vostro 1510 shipped in June with the wrong keyboard but the correct Bios. its been sat here now for two weeks waiting a new keyboard, but nothing. Absolutely disgraceful. If I hear nothing within 24 hours, I'll be expecting a full refund.

The end user, a company Director, isn't too chuffed. It will be interesting what he says when we go to him with our new major desktop replacement scheme later in the year...

David / Richard - thank you for bringing these cases to our attention. I've escalated and we'll be in touch tomorrow (if not before).

Ricky - Sorry for the wait and thank you for contacting us and giving us the opportunity to fix the problem. An agent will contact you tomorrow to confirm the postage of the keyboard. 

Kind regards, Kerry

I too have a Vostro 1510 shipped around a week ago with the wrong keyboard but the correct Bios.

I received a telephone call from Dell today who told me they could send me a replacement keyboard out in the post which I could fit myself as per the instructions on Dell's website. Otherwise they would contact me in a few days to make an appointment for an engineer to come out.

A pointless call to be honest, seeing as I have received this information by email and by the fact they couldn't make an appointment for an engineers visit there and then - oh, no - I have to wait for another call in another couple of days for that!

It seems to me that Dell are stalling for time while they sort out the 'small number of customer' that have been affected. I am not happy!!!

Hello Kelly,

I'm pleased that you appreciate my feedback.  However, I was called by one of your representatives on Tuesday, following my message here, who told me that a new keyboard would be with me on Thursday.  Guess what?  Thursday has been and gone.  No keyboard.  Your appreciation is not terribly useful to me.  What I need is a keyboard.

Greg

At least you have received a response ... I have received nothing at all, Dell's performance in this matter has to date been entirely unacceptable.

Perhaps Kelly Curnow would care to respond and tell us why it is taking so long to sort this out for a small number (She claims??) of customers

Keyboard watch - day 2.

Hi Kelly & Kerry,

I was promised a keyboard on Thursday.  No keyboard on Thursday.

I hoped for the keyboard on Friday.  No keyboard on Friday.

But thanks again for appreciating my feedback, that's the important thing after all.

What do I have to do to get a working laptop, seriously?   Give me my money back, please.

It's no good contacting 100% of your customers when you're lying to them.  I was promised a keyboard would be delivered on Thursday.  Now Monday has been and gone with no sign of one.  You can contact me all you want.  if you don't do what you say it's an utter waste of my time and just makes you look even worse.

Still no news....two weeks up now.

Hi Kelly,

I received my laptop this morning with the wrong keyboard. I have sent you an email, but placing a post here in case it doesn't get through.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Well I did get a phone call last week after my comment, but nothing since, and another week has passed.

I'll be ringing Dell later today for a refund - this is just not acceptable.

The keyboard finally arrived on Tuesday.  Note that, even though your rep told me that it would arrive on Thursday last week, it wasn't even despatched until Monday.

I've purchased dozens of Dell machines on behalf of employers and clients over the years.  Never again.

Hi Kelly,

No contact yet.

Matt

Mr Kerry Bridge ,  what happened to the 48 hours and you will get the reponse email I received on 25th june , where is the response I've been using Dell in Pakistan for long and this 1310 Vostro has cut by productivity in half now I've to go through every word to check for mistakes

the email I received on 25th June is as follows kindly I need the feedback

Hi

Thank you for your email

I apologise for the delay in responding. We will contact within 48 hours to arrange a solution to this issue

Thanks

Dell Quality Team

Original Message Follows: ------------------------

Dear Sir / Madam ,  

I have recently received a Dell Vostro 1310 -  Work Order # 2715XXXXX  , Service Tag #  FMXXXXX,  kindly send me the replacement keyboard along with BIOS so that I can make it suitable for my use .  In case you have a service center based in Pakistan , I can also take it there to get it replaced .    

 Awaiting your positive response   

 Regards  

 Farhan

I bough my 1510 more than two months ago and while at the earlier stages i was in communication with support for a replacement keyboard, they seem to have just blanked me out and totally ignored me.. ive sent out 3 emails within the last 3 weeks and have not received a single reply.

Honestly, im absolutely fed up that i cant use my laptop two months after i bought it. Im going to call and ask for a full refund today and i honely don't care about whatever maximum length of time they have on their reutn policy cause as far as im concerned, they shipped a faulty product.

Another update on this from me – we have in progress resolutions for just under two thirds of those who were affected by this issue. We’ll be continuing to call customers over the weekend.

We are now on our third round of phone calls to customers. If you have not been called or have picked-up a voice mail from us, please contact us via this email address (emea_ts_pfr@dell.com) and we’ll escalate your case.

Thank you to everyone for your feedback and continued patience. We hope to have all this resolved next week.

Hi Farhan, As I've just sent in my email - thanks for bringing this to my attention. We'll be in touch soon.

Kerry

I ordered my vosto 1310  and got it 2 months ago. Still no one as contacted me in regards to getting this fixed, even though I was told they would in several emails. Is this some kind of joke ?

Well, i'm still waiting to be contacted by a Dell engineer to make an appointment. On June 26th I was told it would take a few days - but i'm still waiting. This really isn't good enough! I will email emea_ts_pfr@dell.com now. I wont be buying Dell again after this experience!

Another update from me.  First I want to say thank you for your comments - we have escalated all your cases internally.

We are continuing to work evenings and weekends. We have in progress resolutions for just over three quarters of those customers who are affected. We are now into our fourth and fifth round of calls to reach customers.

If you have not been called please contact us via this email address (emea_ts_pfr@dell.com) and we’ll escalate your case.

I emailed to notify of this fault mid June and received a response quickly listing the options for repair. I replied straight away saying to send a keyboard out to me and I would install it. Three weeks on and no replacement keyboard, very disappointing.

STILL no call or Email.

I've emailed requesting a Keyboard or a refund - no reply. We have been waiting weeks for this.

I'm sure Dell are now taking the mick.

If you have no Keyboard - sort me out a refund.

Seriously unimpressed. Trading standards will be my next move.

HOW HARD CAN IT BE????!!!!!

I've just sent a message about my missing keyboard to emea_ts_pfr@dell.com).

I wonder what the response will be.

Hi,  I bought 3 Vostro 1510 computers (KMM15373978I57L0KM).  Dell took the money and shipped them knowing they did not work.  I offered to replace the keyboards myself requesting that Dell send clear instructions on how to do it.  They sent the keyboard and the disk but no instructions.  They should also have included the little screw driver and scribe required.  What would have been so hard about that? 

That's the last time we'll use Dell !

Jim

@Jim Cogan,

Sorry you missed our vlog with the step by step instructions.

Follow this link:

http://direct2dell.com/smallbusiness/archive/2008/05/08/europe-vostro-keyboard-issue-what-we-re-doing.aspx

Thanks,

Robert

dear sir/ madam,

is this thread still active?

I'm chris by the way and i'm currently working here in Bahrain (Middle East Asia). I've purchased a dell vostro 1310 last june 14 as a birthday gift. i personally didn't noticed the keyboard problem after a bios update from dell's website on july 11. after the update and restart, my nightmare has started. the keys zxcvbn... have acting strangely, it's as if the letters were improperly printed on the keys. i've done everything i could to fix it and upon reaching my wit's end i gave up and call the place where i bought my dell vostro and told me to come and visit their shop again to have the laptop checked. upon checking, the technician gladly admitted it is indeed a hardware problem---keyboard and the warranty covers it. the technician said to me that they would send my vostro to their agent since there is no dell office here in bahrain they couldn't do anything but call their dell supplier or where they've purchased it or whoever he is, i really don't have any idea. the technician just told me that i should wait for 10-15 days to have my laptop fix.

so i waited, and yesterday after 14 days i called the shop where i bought my vostro to follow up on the progress and was very happy knowing that my laptop was ready already for pick-up. later, little did i know that my happiness was shortlived. indeed the letters from z,x,c,v,b,n... were right when i typed them but the remaining characters such as <, >. appears when i press (shift)  (,) or (.) in between (m) and (/). and the key beside the right shift key which is (\) when pressed with a shift key it shows this key (|). to add, the same response i get when i pressed shift a key right before the enter key but on the key it says (~ and `) and when i pressed the key on top of my tab key which originally says (< >) but when pressed it types this (` ~) instead of this (< >).

this is what i've discovered since yesterday, i've given up going back to that shop anymore where i bought my laptop. they barely know how to speak english except for the words " ok, excellent, good quality" when you want to buy from them but after that your'e own your own. they've even managed to put a dozen of scratches on my laptop! and some are quite deep!!!

im not an arab that's why i don't speak arabic which is their language, i barely know people here since i'm new and besides the fact i'm from a different country. i was really thankful that i saw this thread on the dell forum and was given even a single ray of hope...

i'm just hoping you could send me a keyboard replacement with the appropriate bios or driver update that matches the keyboard and i will replace the keyboard myself as i don't plan to have my laptop leave my sight anymore.

i've been to some shops lately and saw some new units of vostro 1310 with a letter b on it. it may be some revision of this unit i'm holding on and how i dearly wished i have the same model on my hands right now. i tried selling my vostro at a low price so i could buy the new model but unfortunately i'm unlucky.aside from the fact that the keyboard is partially functional the scratches that my laptop had attained from the repair it been through recently has added to it's unworthiness by my suspected buyers. i'm guessing too that probably when i plan to upgrade my os from xp to vista in a few months time i'll be experiencing the same z,x,c,v,b,n... letter problems as before. i believed the kind of "repair" they made is isn't the actual solution to the problem and it can just be a adhoc solution or simply a software of some sort, who knows? but one thing is for sure, unless i can't have the real keyboard replacement for my vostro i'll be haunted by this same problem over and over again...

hoping for your kind response on this matter.

respectfully yours'

chris

ps: i've sent an email already to this address: (emea_ts_pfr@dell.com) regarding this problem and attaching the details you need.  

hi mr. robert of dell's blog team.i've already replied to your message and have sent the details that you've requested. have you recieved it? i've even sent the same reply to your manager ms. natalie.

i really wanted this problem i'm having be resolved at all expense even if it needs me to wake up in the middle of the night just to entertain your call.

i've also took the liberty of including my address in the message that i've sent to you if in case you'll be deciding to replace the keyboard which i'm guessing since there is no dell office here in bahrain.

i'm really eager to hear something from you or anyone from dell who's responsible in resolving this mess i've been having to my dell vostro laptop 1310.

chris

ps. my mobile phone is always right beside me (beside my pillow) when i sleep, dreaming that someday someone from dell would call and try to reach me. please anyone help me!

still haven't got any reply (call, messages,etc)...it's exactly 3am here in bahrain and still with the same problematic keyboard...

i think i'm the only one left with this problem...pls help!